yvesvidal

The main engine is starting to come together: Thanks to the lever, you can reverse the direction of the locomotive: Very ingenious.... Yves

Some major progress: We are now assembling the axles for the wheels and all the gears that will be used to move the main drivers of the locomotive: I kept being amazed by the quality of the fittings. For instance, parts that are supposed to insert into another one, have this delicate middle (or triple) laser cut that basically creates a spring effect, making sure that the axle will fit into the wheels, tightly. These Ukrainian engineers are quite wizards in that domain, and I am in awe in front of the engineering that goes into these kits. Yves

There is an excellent book by Bob Ballard that depicts the wreck of the Bismarck. There are a lot of underwater pictures too. Yves

Truly impressive. A Masterpiece. Yves

I am sure, she would prefer that you start the Trumpeter kit in 1/200 scale, instead of these old Revel kits..... 😉 Yves

A little progress..... lots of gears and levers..... for now: At this stage, it is essential to grease/wax all the gears and make sure that everything runs freely. Yves

I built the old Matchbox kit in 1/72, when I was 19 years old.....40 years ago. It was great kit, although full of inaccuracies. I think I may get it again, with the Revel Platinum version. I will be following your 1/144 version with a lot of interest. Yves

Well, if the Theatre took you just an afternoon, this locomotive is another story. I started assembling the kit, by following the instructions very closely. I have to say, their instructions booklet is a little marvel of precision and explanations. It is like a Lego kit or an IKEA kit: all is done with drawings and icons to guide you. The quality of the cuts is amazing. I had no idea such precision could be attained with a laser and plywood. When I compare these cuts and what some model ship kits are offering, it is like night and day. Those Ukrainians have really done their homework and their products are near perfect. So, we go..... We have no less than 16 rubber bands and that assembly is very tight. All the parts are locked with tooth picks. No glue. The fitting is perfect, just tight, very well designed. Now, the insanity starts: A roller bearing made of wood..... The parts are lubricated with some excellent Wax, that I use for the playfields of my pinball machines. At 78 Degrees, the wax is almost liquid and lubes the wood very well. And this is where we are: the engine of the steam locomotive is almost completed. Overall, this does not start as an easy kit. I suspect that the most delicate phase is the implementation of the rubber engine, with its levers, locks and clicking mechanism. We will see how it goes in the next phases. Yves

Petite Manche en toile de la pissotiere: Basically" Small tube of fabric, used to pee". A "Pissotiere" in French (slang) is a device or a place to urinate. Was that for the mates or to eliminate any water that may have flushed the inside decks? I let you decide. Yves

Fantastic, absolutely marvelous. Yves

I admire your persistence at trying to get a decent model out of these old Revell kits. Yves

Absolutely beautiful!!! Your BLOG will be my reference when I decide to build the kit I have. Yves

My son Michael recently offered me for Father's day, a new product that he got from Ukraine. It is all made of wood, laser cut and uses rubber band for a propulsion system. It took a long time for this kit to arrive in the good old states of America and the custom office kept it for a quite a while. I suspect they wanted to assemble the kit but did not find the time or patience to do so. Anyway, it looks like some of the products offered by uGears (Ukrainian company) are now imported by Model Shipways, which should hopefully ease the transit through our customs bureaucracy. I have not started the kit yet, but intend to do so, as soon as I am done with the restoration of a Bally Mata hari pinball machine. In the meantime, I wanted to show you in pictures, what this is all about. The offering from uGears is quite impressive with tons of models for different tastes. Most kits are capable of moving or have some kind of mechanical system built in. My son picked that beautiful locomotive as he knows my very intense passion for trains, and specifically for steam engines. The quality of the cut is amazing and extremely precise. All kits are assembled with absolutely no glue and use wax (from a candle) for lubrication of the mechanisms and gears. It is truly a kit taking you back in the old times, when creativity and resourcefulness were the necessary qualities of hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers and when materials were simple and had to be found at home. From an environmental point of view, this is a kit that is perfect, uses renewable materials (wood, rubber), no chemicals and will last a long time if taken care of. The instructions is comprised of a very thick manual, explaining the various phases of assembly. All is very precise, and tells you exactly where to find the parts on the various sprues/plates of wood. Stay tuned as we will be starting the construction in a few days or a couple of weeks. Thank you Michael, for this beautiful gift. Yves

Anthony, I hope you will be documenting your large Mayflower build on this forum. Yves

Amazing paint job. Stupendous. Yves

Such a kit reveals the incredible progress that have been done in the last few years, for plastic kits. And I have to say that the Japanese (long time ago) and Chinese have been raising the bar very high. The quality of what is offered today allows the modelers to complete Museum Quality models, whereas before, most of these kits were designed for kids and young enthusiasts. You are every brave to try to put such a kit together. I know you will turn it into a little marvel and you obviously enjoy some challenges. Yves

Talking about discrepancies, this is a Lindberg kit and as such, there will be a lot of discrepancies. Lindberg was never famous for their precision. On the other hand, they offered models that kids enjoyed with moving parts, propeller and electric motors and capability to float. I remember building their Bismarck when I was a kid, and being ecstatic when running it on the lake, with all the moving guns. That model was even capable of running pre-defined patterns and courses in the water. Yves

For the price of the kit, it is regrettable that Floor, carpets and seats are not made with real fabric.

Thank you. Yes, I found one for sale at Age of Sails, but for $1,000 a piece, that is hurting. It is normally the money I may spend on a brass locomotive in O scale, but for a car I think it is too much. It looks like a gorgeous piece though, with the precious woods and fabrics. If you ever start a BLOG on this car, please send us a link or better yet, start a BLOG on this forum under a Boat name.... 🙂 Thanks Yves

That is surprising. I would have thought that you wanted a perfectly smooth hull, before gluing the armor belt. I love trains and collect them at 1/48 scale (O-scale). At Scale 1 (1/32), that car must be incredible. I wish those kits were available in the USA. Yves

Did you use the "wet" method to glue the deck? Or did you simply fit it, peel the backing and glued it on the plastic deck? I did buy the Artwox set for the HobbyBoss model. There are two flavors of the Artwox wooden decks, one for the Merit kit and one for the Hobbyboss kit. I think the kits represent the ship at different eras. Yves

I love the Pocher Rolls-Royce (1/8) and the nice collection of Monogram Classic cars (1/24) that you have. Quite a collection. Yves

Looking good. Time to pull out the sandpaper for some more sneezes.....😀 Yves

So you are going for the grey hull and superstructures as it is painted today. Yves

Glad to have you back to complete this beautiful project. Yves